Victoria Mueller

I've had a very tough upbringing. Even though we were, like, middle-class family, my mother was mentally ill. She was institutionalized when I was a kid. I was abused pretty badly. And then I found myself at 13 pregnant, had a child that I put up for adoption when I was 14, which had to be kept a secret, because you didn't do that then. You know, I'm 68 now, so all that was kept quiet and secret. And so that really shaped me as a person, and I was always very protective of myself, and didn't take chances on things, because I was always afraid. And it wasn't until I had a son, I was 31, and I had my son, then I finally decided I was gonna do things for myself, and that's when I went back to school, got my degree, and began teaching. I just, for a long time, just went from job to job to job. I was always successful, right away, I always got moved into positions of management positions and things like that. But when I had my son, I knew I had to be more consistent. I couldn't move him around like I moved around. I can remember I was, like, 8 or 9, and my mother, one of her things that she would say to me is, who in the damn hell do you think you are, right? I had to say nobody, that I wasn't nobody. That was our response that we had to say. And I turned and I looked at her, and I said, I am Victoria Ann Keeler. And I still got beat. But you know what? The whole time I was being beat, in my head, I kept saying my name. I was not gonna say I was nobody anymore. And I was, like, 8 when that happened. So, but it just made me who I am. It made me who I am today.

Develop a thick skin. I know that might sound odd, but you know, you're gonna face a lot of criticism. Just do your work. And if you do it true to your heart, you'll be fine. And one of the things that I know that might sound odd, but I always operated with, you can always ask for forgiveness later, you know? Do what you think is right, and then you can ask for forgiveness later. I mean, hopefully it's not gonna get you fired, but I think, if you have a path, don't be afraid to go on that path. If it's meant to be, the roads will open up for you. If it's not meant to be, then you're gonna hit roadblocks, and maybe you need to look at a different path, or a different way to find that path.

A major challenge in my field is the continued underrepresentation of women—especially women of color—in higher-level science fields, as well as the lack of individualized support for gifted students in the U.S., which also creates important opportunities for mentorship, scholarship funding, and programs that encourage more young women to pursue STEM.

The values most important to me in my work and personal life are resilience, strong self-identity, advocacy for underserved students—especially gifted children and girls of color in science—integrity in following my convictions, and a deep commitment to service through scholarship and charitable work.